Nose That Flows
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1999 Sep / Oct VOL VIII NO 5.
Dr (Mrs) Sayali Prabhu
'Kali-carb / Ars-alb

Case 1
Mr. RS aged 35 year and a businessman, came to me on 27th November 1995 with complaints of violent sneezing followed by continuous watery nasal discharge. He had not spent a single day without coryza in the last 3 years. It was followed by cough: dry at first and then with white, mucoid expectoration turning into a yellow sticky one; then into a post nasal drip with wheezing and breathlessness. The above complaints were associated with redness of eyes and itching of nose, eyes and excessive lachrymation. He also had a throbbing headache and backache along with generalized weakness and pain in extremities.

His respiratory complaints used to start after exposure to smoke, perfumes, incense sticks, dust and tobacco smoke and after eating oily things. Therefore the patient had stopped using perfumes and lighting incense sticks. Each attack use to last for 1 month.

Physical Generals:
Perspiration - Profuse on Chest³, Neck², Back³
Appetite - Normal
Thirst - Less
Desires - Salt, Oily things3, highly seasoned food², sweets², milk (hot)³, meat/fish², warm food & drinks³, Cold drink²
Aversions - Sour, Tobacco, Chicken & eggs, Ice cream
Bowels & Bladder - Normal
Sleep - Good. No dreams, position variable
Thermals - likes summer ­. Aversion to winter (because he can enjoy cold drinks in summer, which he cannot during winter season). Likes open air. Takes hot water bath in winter and rainy season, warm water in summer. Likes covering - +++ - throughout the year. C3H2

Past History - Renal calculi on Lt side, treated by some Ayurvedic medicine
Family History - Mother - Rheumatism. Brother - Hypertension. Father - died of brain tumor

Disposition And Expression-
Patient is extremely fearful, fear of being alone, of darkness and going anywhere alone. He always needs company. Whenever he has to go out, he asks two of his close friends to accompany him or he takes one of his servants to accompany him. If he doesn't get company of these few selected, he does not even go out for important work, in spite of a desire to go.

He is very anxious about his health and restless till he clears pending, heavy workload. He is irritable. Contradiction AGG. At the same time he is sensitive and sentimental.
He does not talk to anyone about his tensions and prefers to keep silent. He only enjoys company of his selected few friends. Talks and enjoys jokes only in their company. Faced with unknown people or in new places, he tries to escape. Likes only the routine surroundings and people. He also avoids taking his wife and children for holidays or outing.

The remedy, Kali-carbonicum was clear by the time case taking was complete Still it is always better to repertorize.

Rubrics: 
Cold and coryza with thick, sticky, yellow expectoration.
Post nasal drip, wheezing and breathlessness.
Backache, Generalized Weakness and Sweating (three important symptoms of Kali- carb)
Desire for sweets, warm food and drinks
Aversion cold
Chilly patient
Fearful of being alone
Anxious
Desire for company
Irritable
Sensitive
Sentimental
Attachment ++++
Aversion to family members
Indifferent when in society.
Sycotic background.
P/H of renal calculi on Lt side.
Father suffered from brain tumour.
All the above symptoms covered Kali-carb, which was further confirmed by various Materia Medicas.

Treatment & Follow-Up

After that patient has not come to me for respiratory allergy. The patient visits the clinic along with his family for acute complaints. He now regularly uses perfumes, lights incense sticks, takes oily things and also cold drinks. He now goes for holidays with his family, goes out alone for functions and has joined various social organizations. This is what the Kali-carbonicum has shown its action, both on mental and physical plane.

Case 2
Mr GSP, 31 years, came in February 1994 with respiratory allergy for last 10 years.

Chief Complaints:

1. Constant sneezing; watery acrid discharge from nose with redness of nose and eyes with excessive lachrymation.
2. Within 10-15 minutes of nasal discharge he would complain about cough with watery expectoration and wheezing in chest, sometimes of breathlessness.
3. He was so prostrated by this profuse nasal watery discharge, that he used to be very restless mentally. He would sit in one place, restless, changing his handkerchief every five minutes.
4. If he doesn't take medicines like Avil, Deriphylline at the first stage he gets severe breathlessness, aggravated at night usually after 11 pm and by lying down. He was unable to get sleep at night due to severe wheezing and breathlessness and would have to sit up the whole night. On the next day he would get cough with white or yellow expec-toration.

Associated Complaints:
Very thirsty; feverish sensation with chill sometimes: Pimples on back with discolouration His respiratory allergy used to get aggravated by cold climate, ice-creams, cold drinks, curds, buttermilk, shrikand, dust, etc.

I did not refer to any Repertory or Materia Medica in this case. When I saw this case, the remedy that immediate struck me Arsenic-alb. I gave the patient Ars-alb 200, 2 pills every 4 hrly, whenever he would get exposed to any of causative factor. The result was very good. I used Ars-alb 200 only during the attack. Slowly after one month, the severity of attacks started reducing with larger intervals. Previously, the patient used to get attacks every 2 days. The patient also started consuming curds, buttermilk, ice creams, cold drinks and shrikand etc.

After 3 months of treatment I found that Ars-alb 200 was not curative, so I gave him Ars-alb 1 M with very good results. After that, all the allergies subsided and he started consuming everything and would not get any attack even after exposure to cold air and dust. His two other symptoms, which I had not considered while prescribing Arsenic, viz pimples on back with blackish discolouration and the severe pain he would get in the abdomen, on eating eggs in any form were also cured.

After 1½ year, this patient again got severe attack as before, on a visit to cold climate. I had then given him Arsenic-alb 10 M. Since then, for last 3 years, he has not got any attack.